Interview: Best int'l norms are not Western ones: president-designate of AIIB

"The so-called best international standards are not Western ones. Do not confuse the two things," Jin Liqun, president-designate of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said here on Monday.

"We do not recognize Western criteria as the best ones. Otherwise, why did the financial crisis and the debt crisis break out in Western countries? We need to learn merits from the West, but we also need to discard their demerits," Jin told Xinhua in an interview during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Financial Cooperation Conference in London.

He said the AIIB will absorb the development experience from various countries and regions, especially China's experience. "We will make a new set of guidelines, something we want to follow."

"I think the AIIB must represent the development situations of developing countries and regions. Otherwise, it does not make sense."

He said cooperation between the AIIB and other multilateral institutions will be very broad.

"The World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and so on all want to cooperate with the AIIB. We are also willing to cooperate with them," he said.

"Other institutions will not cooperate with us if we do not reach international standards and a certain level of governance. I am proud to say that our policies are as good as others'. In some places, we are even better than them as we have absorbed their experience," he said.

Infrastructure projects often require billions of U.S. dollars. The funds are too large for an individual bank to raise. "We can share costs and spread risks by working together," said Jin.

China has applied to join the EBRD recently, drawing lots of attention.

Jin said the EBRD wanted to expand eastwards and southwards. "We and the EBRD have already cooperated in central Asia and west Asia. The two banks have lots of opportunities to work together, which can promote the Eurasia connections."

He believes institutions need to strengthen cooperation not only on specific projects, but also on policies.

Commenting on whether Taiwan can join the AIIB, Jin said there is no obstacle for Taiwan to join the AIIB. "We just need to discuss the appropriate manner for Taiwan to join (the AIIB)."

Talking about the AIIB's mechanism against internal corruption, Jin revealed the bank will set up an integrity department. "In order to prevent interest conflicts and to avoid suspicion, the head of the department cannot be Chinese if the AIIB president is a Chinese," he said.

The BFA Financial Cooperation Conference was held here on Monday, gathering more than 400 government officials, businessmen and academics from 22 Asian and European countries and regions. Endi